4story: New Twists For Old Formula
October 15, 2009 by Joel Tan
Filed under Asian MMO, MMO Guides, MMORPG
It’s not apparent from the title what I’m talking about, so let me lay it out more plainly in the body text of this posting. You see, 4story looks like a World of Warcraft clone from almost every angle. Even the character sprites, with their ungainly and cartoonish appearance, reeks of the highly successful Blizzard Entertainment massively multiplayer online role-playing game title.
4story character creation screen
Not that 4story is devoid of merits. Far from it. Despite a warning I’ve received from a fellow gamer and colleague in the gaming industry that I might end up disappointed if I start playing the game, I still pushed through. Obviously, from the title of this posting alone, one can discern that I’m not distressed with my choice.
Like I said, it’s almost—and I do mean ALMOST—like World of Warcraft, and indeed the game takes full advantage of this fact. Fortunately for Zemi Interactive, developer and publisher of 4story, the game has a few twists that may push it into the spotlight and grab the attention of MMORPG fans like yours truly.
Just like in other MMORPGs, I started my adventures in the world of 4story as a ranged class, an archer, for Craxion, the nation of mysterious magics. There are two other factions in the game: DeFugel, the nation of bravery soldiers, and Broa, the nation of strong troops.
These three nations are perpetually at war and every change in territory ownership in 4story affects the number of quests you can take on, the type of items you can recover, and of course the place you can go to. But that’s nothing new, I’m sure.
What’s new, however, is what Zemi Interactive calls the Real-Time Strategic Command System, or RSCS. It’s unique to 4story and it allows field commanders to command his troops much like a general in today’s real-world battlefield. With the aid of the mini-map, the commander can see where his soldiers are located, order them to move to specific areas, and talk to them.
Although the commander can always use chat to issue commands, the battlefield minimap has shortcut keys that mirror basic commands like “move out,” “hold position,” and “engage.”
Not bad … not bad at all. I’m sure it gives player-versus-player warfare a whole new dimension. Now, if only Zemi Interactive can sustain this and make 4story move out from the shadow of World of Warcraft, then we’ll have a truly great, free-to-play MMORPG to romp in.
